At 17, teen from the Eastern Townships is elected to municipal council
Lilian Steudler, 17, says she's been thinking about entering politics for a long time.
The teen didn't wait until she came of age before running in the municipal election in Racine, in Val-Saint-François, Que., nearly 34 kilometres from Sherbrooke.
"I find that young people and also women lack representation in city council, and I believe that I represent those two facets well," she said.
On Oct 1, she was elected District 2 councillor by acclamation.
According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, she must wait until her 18th birthday, on Oct. 27, before being sworn into office.
But in the meantime, she's letting her priorities, namely improving public transit in the town, be known.
"We're a small village half an hour from Sherbrooke," she said.
"We are very close to a lot of things, but we cannot easily access them because our public transit isn't very developed and as for schedules, there aren't many," she said, adding that better public transit would be beneficial for the environment.
Steudler's seat was previously occupied by Mario Côté, who ran unopposed as the new mayor of Racine. All the seats of the municipality's council were elected by acclamation this year.
